


Farewells

by Wildcard



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-17
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-04-09 19:12:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4360946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wildcard/pseuds/Wildcard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katarina’s dead and Talon has to give the speech at her funeral. This doesn't turn out well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Farewells

Snakes couldn’t cry. They had ducts of venom in their mouth but no tear ducts in their eyes.

Cassiopeia had been unable to cry for her sister so she’d raged instead, destroying everything in her room and sinking her fangs into anyone that came too close to her. Her grief had been lethal and on top of the funeral arrangements for his sister, it had fallen to Talon to make compensation for the family members of the servants and guards that had fallen victim to Cassiopeia’s mourning.

Shuriman emperors were entombed with servants, the General had once told Talon, so that even in the afterlife they would be well taken care of.

Talon didn’t think the servants and guards whom Cassiopeia had killed would be happy to find themselves still stuck in servitude to Kat in the afterlife but then, what did he know? Servitude had settled on him late and at swordpoint. Perhaps there were people who enjoyed that.

It was easier to think about that than look over the waiting crowd. Even if Kat hadn’t been popular, she’d been politically powerful. Most of the Noxian nobles had turned out and no doubt Cassiopeia was taking note of those who were missing. The sun glinted off tasteful jewelry, tucked amidst the black of mourning, and eyes as cold as the metal of their adornments fixed their gaze on Talon.

He knew what they were thinking – a street rat, speaking for the House of Du Couteau? How they have fallen. He could practically hear the contempt in the words. It was how they spoke to him at any party Katarina insisted he attend.  
She wouldn’t drag him to parties anymore.

It was his turn to speak for her.

“Thank you for coming here.” A good, diplomatic start. Cassiopeia had let him write his own speech after that. “I don’t know how many of you are here just to make sure she’s really dead but fuck you and fuck you for pretending that you care about her and you’re not just trying to figure out how this affects the playing field.”

Talon didn’t bother looking to see if the guests were more scandalized or shocked. He kept his eyes fixed on the coffin instead.

“Katarina was a good assassin. She could Shun-po further than anyone else I’ve seen and do it again and again until she dropped. She trained hard every single day, even when it was raining and so slippery that we couldn’t even stand. She kept her knives sharp and clean.”

What more could be said of an assassin?

“She did her best for Noxus. She loved this fucking city, don’t ask me why. She thought all that shit about strength prevails actually meant something. Like it isn’t easier to be strong when you’re well-fed, well trained and properly armed from childhood.”

But this wasn’t the time for a rant about how fucking stupid Noxus was. He had to say good things about Kat.

“And her father. Kat loved General Marcus Du Couteau and searched for him without ever giving up. She died believing he was still out there somewhere. If you’re in disguise and here at the funeral, General, then you should know that Kat never fucking believed you were dead. She was a good daughter, a good sister and a good Noxian.”

What else could he say?

“…She was kind to me when the General brought me home. She could’ve treated me like a servant – or tried to. Or she could have ignored me. She asked to train with me instead and the next mission she went on, she brought back gifts for Cass and me both. She treated me like a brother. She earned my loyalty the hard way.”

A murmur of sound made him look up from the casket. People were yawning in the pews, holding gloved hands over their mouths as if they’d thought his speech was going on too long.

Talon bared his teeth at them in a brief snarl and stubbornly went on.

“I don’t fucking care what Swain says, she wasn’t a traitor. She was a patriot. And better than that, she was a good sister. I’m going to miss her. Cass is going to miss her. Noxus is going to be down one of its best assassins.”

He watched the crowd intently still as eyes closed and heads lolled to the side, guests slipping into a seductive slumber so slow they hadn’t even noticed it. It was only when he was sure they were dead that he continued speaking.

“Kat once said that the three best blades in all of Valoran belong to the House Du Couteau – herself, her father and me. With two of them gone, that leaves me as the best assassin in Valoran. And while I would’ve much rather just stabbed all of you, Cass likes poison and she’s taking this harder than I am so she got to pick.”

The guards started to file into the rows and remove the bodies as Talon kept talking.

“Cassiopeia and I will finish what she started – and you can serve Kat in the afterlife.”


End file.
